Bitcoin climbs past $80K for the first time since January

Bitcoin breached $80,000 on Monday as it rose 2.7% over a three-hour span as Asian equities began trading, marking its highest price since Jan. 31, 2026.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) 2.7% rally began at 1:25 am UTC, rising from $78,415 to break the $80,000 level about 75 minutes later before climbing to $80,515 by 4:20 am UTC, according to TradingView data.

Bitcoin’s price change on Coinbase on Monday. Source: TradingView

The rally coincided with a 2.3% rise in the MSCI AC Asia Index to 245.2 on Monday morning, breaking its previous high of 243.6 on Feb. 22, about a week before the US-Iran war began.

A rise in the MSCI AC Asia Index at the start of the week generally reflects positive global risk sentiment in response to weekend developments, though it doesn’t necessarily mean that US equities will follow suit.

Ether (ETH), $XRP ($XRP) and $BNB ($BNB) also rallied and are up 3.9%, 2.4% and 3.3% over the last 24 hours, at the time of writing.

The price rise also comes as crypto momentum has been building in Washington, where members of the banking and crypto industries reached a compromise on stablecoin yield provisions in the CLARITY Act, with a Senate markup expected this month.

The US-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have also seen net inflows in 11 of the past 14 trading days, indicating that institutional demand remains strong.

Friday’s inflow of $629.8 million also marked the US Bitcoin ETF industry’s strongest day in two weeks.

Bitcoin up nearly 30% from 2026 low

Bitcoin’s climb back to $80,000 marks a nearly 30% recovery from its 2026 low of about $62,000 reached on Feb. 5, and several industry observers said there is a path for Bitcoin to reach $100,000.

Related: Strategy takes Bitcoin buying breather ahead of Q1 earnings report

One of them is MN Trading Capital founder Michael van de Poppe, who said Friday that Bitcoin does not need a fresh narrative to return to the $100,000 mark:

“There doesn’t need to be a narrative that pushes the price upwards,” he said, stating that as the price moves upwards, “the narrative will create itself.”

The crypto industry is also watching the US Bitcoin Reserve after White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt said at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas last week that a “big announcement” on President Donald Trump’s Bitcoin reserve is coming in the next few weeks.